Jehovah’s Witnesses all over the world have commenced their 2020 Regional Convention – “Always Rejoice!”. The annual program took a different structure this year due to the Corona Virus worldwide disruption.
Previously, the timing of the annual conventions of Jehovah’s Witnesses in different countries and cities was dependent on weather and other factors. For instance, most European and American cities hold the conventions between June and September, while it is held between August and December in most of Africa.
The Conventions, in addition to bringing together thousands of local and sometimes international members of the religion, also has a positive impact on transportation, hospitality and local trade and tourism. The Coronavirus pandemic, however, and the resulting restrictions have rendered these large gatherings unsafe. Jehovah’s Witnesses, therefore, arranged to have the program available on their website’s video library. Moreover, members of the public can access the recorded program from their website, jw.org (https://www.jw.org/en/jehovahs-witnesses/conventions/). JERRY UWAH followed the program and provides the following report:
The program was opened by Mr. Kenneth Cook, a member of the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses. He presented the theme: “Why Jehovah is the Happy God”. He highlighted that true joy is different from circumstantial happiness, one that depends on one’s personal circumstances. Real joy is an inner, deep-seated feeling that is unfleeting and is a product of one’s relationship with God and a fruitage of the Holy Spirit. It does not change with physical circumstances. Citing 1 Timothy 1:11, he re-affirmed that Jehovah has remained happy despite facing rebellions, sabotage, loss of friends and injustice against his name. This is because he is a perfect creator, a generous giver, and a recipient of obedience followed by his worshippers. He then added that we too can remain joyful if we maintain our relationship with God, receive and retain his holy spirit, keep our hope in his future promises and successfully face persecution.
The program then featured a 4-part symposium: “What contributes to Joy?” These were analysed as follows:
1. “A Simple Life” – the world’s view is as that expressed by the rich man at Luke 12:19 – acquire more material things, relax and enjoy… The scriptures show this viewpoint as foolish. There was a dramatization of a Christian who accepted a well-remunerated management position at his place of work but which then took a toll on his family life, his health and worship. A second dramatization showed the same Christian choosing to remain at his lower-paying but less time-consuming role, allowing him to pay more attention to his family, help others and do more for God.
2. “A Clean Conscience” – The speaker highlighted the value of a trained conscience to maintaining joy. He presented a video dramatization where a Christian man made honest decisions at work that ordinarily would put him in a bad light, but left him with a good conscience.
3. “Meaningful Work” – This talk highlighted that workaholism and laziness are some of the factors that rob people of joy. When we spend an undue amount of our time at work, it impacts our families and affects our spirituality. Striking a balance between work, rest, family, spirituality and helping those in need results in joy.
4. “True Friendships” – The speaker highlighted the impact of our choice of friends on our Joy. Quoting 1 Corinthians 13:33, he stated that bad associates rob off negatively on us. True friendship is one based on right principles, and these principles are outlined in the Bible.
The first session of the convention program concluded with the theme: “Rejoice in Jehovah’s Acts of Salvation”, delivered by Mr. Mark Sanderson, a member of the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses. After reading from Psalms 9:14, he stated that given the various challenges we face in the world today, worshippers of God can be filled with confidence that he is able and willing to save them. The convention program continues this weekend with a presentation of the second session which is available for viewing and download from jw.org.
